about what’s happening and as he ended their conversation, Uygar asked Karins what he thought was causing this rash of terrible tornadoes. Karins speculated that it could be climate change but “the one thing we know for sure” is that this is an El Nino year so the climate is more volatile than usual. Back to climate change, Karins said he couldn’t “prove” climate change was a factor.

Bottom line? Weather people hesitate to name climate change as one of the reasons for this wild weather but when someone like Tim Pawlenty lies through his teeth while announcing he’s running for president (hey, no problem):

“Truth” was Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty’s buzzword today when he announced his campaign for the Republican presidential nomination. He said he will tell the truth about hard choices facing the nation while others — President Barack Obama notably among them — do not.

A parsing of Pawlenty’s opening-day statements shows they were not the whole truth.

Here is a sampling of his claims today and how they compare with the facts.

PAWLENTY: “The truth is, people getting paid by the taxpayers shouldn’t get a better deal than the taxpayers themselves. That means freezing federal salaries, transitioning federal employee benefits, and downsizing the federal work force as it retires.” — Campaign announcement.

THE FACTS: A federal pay freeze is already in effect. Obama proposed and Congress approved a two-year freeze on the pay of federal employees, exempting the armed forces, Congress and federal courts.

So ,there’s no rhyme or reason when it comes to “proof” or fact in the American “news” media. Beltway pundits listen to lies every day but the weather guys have to have “proof” before they say a thing.